Crunchyroll accused of sharing users’ video viewing data without consent

Crunchyroll class action lawsuit overview:

• Who: Lead plaintiff Francisco Cabonios and four others, including a minor, filed a class action lawsuit against Crunchyroll LLC.
• Why: The plaintiffs allege Crunchyroll violated the Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA) by disclosing users’ video viewing data to a third-party marketing company without consent.
• Where: The Crunchyroll class action was filed in California federal court.

Crunchyroll is facing a new class action lawsuit alleging it discloses users’ video viewing data to a third-party marketing company without their consent.

Lead plaintiff Francisco Cabonios filed the class action complaint against Crunchyroll on March 5 in California federal court, alleging violations of the Video Privacy Protection Act.

According to the class action lawsuit, Crunchyroll, an anime streaming service, violated the VPPA by disclosing users’ personally identifiable information (PII) to Braze Inc., a third-party marketing and analytics company, without obtaining proper consent.

The plaintiffs allege Crunchyroll embedded Braze’s software development kit (SDK) in its mobile application, allowing the company to systematically transmit users’ email addresses, persistent device identifiers and the titles of specific video content they watched to Braze.

The lawsuit claims this PII allows Braze and its clients to identify specific individuals and track exactly what video content they are watching.

The VPPA prohibits such disclosures without informed, written consent obtained “in a form distinct and separate from any form setting forth other legal or financial obligations of the consumer,” the plaintiffs say.

The VPPA provides consumers whose privacy has been breached with the right to recover statutory damages of $2,500 per violation, plus attorney’s fees and costs, the Crunchyroll class action lawsuit says.

Plaintiffs argue Crunchyroll ‘knowingly’ violated VPPA

The plaintiffs allege Crunchyroll knowingly violated the VPPA by disclosing users’ PII to Braze without obtaining the necessary consent.

They claim Crunchyroll intentionally embedded the Braze SDK in its application and configured it to transmit specific data elements, including email addresses, device IDs and video titles.

“Crunchyroll did not obtain informed, written consent from the plaintiffs or class members for the disclosure of their personal viewing information to Braze in a form distinct and separate from any form setting forth other legal or financial obligations of the consumer, as required by the VPPA,” the Crunchyroll class action lawsuit says.

The plaintiffs seek to represent all persons in the United States who created accounts on the Crunchyroll app, watched videos through the app and had their personal viewing information disclosed to Braze by Crunchyroll within the applicable statute of limitations.

They are suing for violations of the VPPA and seeking certification of the class action, damages of $2,500 per violation, fees, costs and a jury trial.

Similarly, Samsung Electronics America Inc. recently faced a class action lawsuit alleging it violated the Video Privacy Protection Act by tracking, storing and selling smart TV owners’ viewing data without their knowledge or consent.

What do you think of the allegations made in this Crunchyroll class action lawsuit? Let us know in the comments.

The plaintiffs are represented by Robert Abiri of Abiri Law P.C., Vineet Dubey of Custodio & Dubey LLP and Don Bivens and Maxwell K. Weiss of Don Bivens PLLC.

The Crunchyroll class action lawsuit is Cabonios, et al. v. Crunchyroll LLC, Case No. 2:26-cv-02373, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

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